Mom’s memory helps WSOP Main Event chip leader with pressure

Joseph Hebert has a massive chip lead entering the final table of the World Series of Poker Main Event, and he’s feeling the pressure.

The first prize of more than $2.5 million would change his life and allow the poker pro to relax after years of grinding out a living. No more restaurant shifts to help make ends meet.

The person who calms him is his mother, Linda, he said. She died unexpectedly in July from a pulmonary embolism.

When Hebert (pronounced “A-bear”) went on a late rush to take the chip lead, “I just knew she was there,” he said. “Like, I knew it. I just felt it. It was unbelievable. It was just a great feeling.”

Hebert, 38, of Metairie, Louisiana, has 13.05 million in chips with nine players left in the U.S. portion of the WSOP Main Event, the $10,000 buy-in No-limit Hold’em World Championship. His next-closest competitor, Shawn Stroke, has only 5.25 million.

That makes Hebert a strong favorite to claim the U.S. first prize of more than $1.55 million Monday at the Rio. He could then earn an additional $1 million by defeating international winner Damian Salas in a final heads-up battle for the trophy bracelet Wednesday.

The event was played online on WSOP.com but is shifting to live play for the final table.

Hebert has had plenty of success, amassing $667,663 in live tournament earnings, according to the Hendon Mob Poker Database. But he knows the chance to win his first WSOP bracelet in the Main Event is the opportunity of a lifetime.

“If I start thinking about the money, it’s the biggest …,” he said, trailing off. “It could change my life.”

The only solution is to do his best to treat the final table like any other tournament, he said.

“Having the big chip lead definitely applies a ton of pressure, I feel, because the expectations are on you,” Hebert said. “But I’m zoning that out, and I’m just taking it hand by hand, and I’m just going to treat it like I’m playing a card game at a friend’s house and not worry about the money and not worry about the fame and not worry about anything, just zoning in and playing poker like I love to do.

“That’s the only way I can do it.”

Hebert’s opponents are certainly aware of his stack. Gershon Distenfeld, who sits in sixth place, said, “The chip leader is just well ahead of the pack. He’ll obviously have a huge advantage. He’ll be able to push people around.”

Hebert calls himself “a nervous person,” and he said it has been hard to wait two weeks for the final table. He has stayed in Las Vegas since the event was paused and brought out his fiancee and 8-year-old son, Kole, to keep him company. (Hebert’s online screen name “Kolebear” is a tribute to his son and the pronunciation of their last name.)

The coronavirus pandemic has added to the stress, he said, because players have to pass two virus tests before being allowed inside the WSOP “bubble.” If he tests positive, he will be disqualified and receive only the ninth-place money of $98,813.

“That’s even more stressful than anything,” he said. “Biggest shot in your entire life and all of the sudden you could lose it for something you didn’t even do.”

Hebert said he has had no contact with anyone besides his fiancee and son in the past two weeks.

When the stress comes, his thoughts drift back to his mother. He laughs telling her life story, of being a nun for four years before leaving and going on a blind date with his father.

“Even crazier, my dad had long hair and a beard and looked like Jesus,” Hebert said with a laugh.

Linda and Jules Hebert would have celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in September.

Joseph Hebert said he often thinks about his last text exchange with his mother. He talked about wanting to win a WSOP bracelet, and she responded, “I keep hoping and praying that what will be, will be. Things will work out.”

“She was super-duper religious and always said prayers for me, and I just know she’s here right now,” Hebert said. ” … She was always my biggest fan.”

Contact Jim Barnes at jbarnes@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0277. Follow @JimBarnesLV on Twitter.